Lottery funding to unlock private money for UK heritage

Today, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is announcing grants totaling £12.3million that will enable heritage organisations across the UK, large and small, build financial resilience by attracting private investment.

The money, which includes £8.5million of endowment grants and £3.8million to help build fundraising capacity, has been awarded through HLF’s Catalyst programme. The scheme is designed to help organisations diversify their income streams, attract significantly more funding by increasing their fundraising potential and help them to develop and explore innovative approaches to securing private donations.

Culture Secretary Maria Miller, said: “The UK’s heritage is world-renowned and the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Catalyst programme is doing an incredibly important job in helping heritage organisations across the country open up sources of long-term sustainable income, both public and private.

Carole Souter, Chief Executive of HLF, said: “Building financial resilience is vital to ensure the future of our precious buildings, landscapes and collections. With Catalyst, the Heritage Lottery Fund is offering heritage organisations the tools to develop longer-term financial independence and enabling the custodians of our heritage to get fit for the future.”

Catalyst: Endowments

13 heritage organisations which have previously benefited from HLF investment, including the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket, Peterborough Cathedral and the Churches Conservation Trust, have been awarded a match-funded grant of either £500,000 or £1million to set up an endowment which will support long-term financial resilience. For every £1 acquired in private donations by grantees, HLF will match it with £1 up to the value of their grant. Consequently, HLF’s grant will give organisations the opportunity to leverage a further £8.5million funding from private sources.

Catalyst: Capacity Building

Nine heritage umbrella organisations have received initial support for a combined HLF bid of £3.8million to help build fundraising capacity across the heritage sector through partnerships. A further 44 individual organisations have been awarded small grants totaling £410,400 to develop their fundraising capacity.

Catalyst Umbrella grants

Nine sector-wide organisations, including the Princes Regeneration Trust, Heritage Alliance, Arts and Business Scotland, Wales Council for Voluntary Action (WCVA) and Northern Ireland Environment Link have been earmarked to receive grants from £100,000 to £500,000. It will enable them to deliver in partnership with heritage organsiations the vital tools needed to increase sector-wide ability to tap into private sources of support, including training and networking opportunities.

Catalyst Small grants

44 organisations have also been awarded grants between £3,000 to £10,000 to maximise their ability to secure private investment in a range of forms – from attracting corporate sponsorship and legacy funding to benefitting from in-kind donations such as new volunteer hours. Successful grantees included the Jane Austen Memorial Trust and Gwent Wildlife Trust.

Successful Catalyst applicants include:

Endowments

Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) will receive £500,000 to help build an endowment that will help it protect England’s historic church artefacts.

History for the Future aims to safeguard the future of important historic features and artefacts within the CCT’s collection of parish churches. These range from stunning medieval wall paintings, delicate textiles and world famous stained glass windows to wall monuments and mosaics.

National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket will receive £1million towards creating an endowment fund. It will generate income to support the Museum’s extensive collections and records.

Capacity building

The Heritage Alliance has received a £499,800 umbrella grant to deliver Giving to Heritage, a three-year project to support local community groups to learn fundraising skills. With emphasis on diversifying techniques in tune with the new funding landscape, the full programme will help develop skills in how to attract private donations and legacies as well as corporate sponsorship.

Northern Ireland Environment Link will receive a £230,500 umbrella grant to deliver a programme of training and mentoring through intensive courses, seminars and conferences to enable heritage groups develop the skills and knowledge needed to increase private fundraising.

Wales Council for Voluntary Action will receive a £471,800 umbrella grant to deliver Giving the past a future – sustainable heritage in Wales. A three-year project, it will provide heritage organisations across Wales with a programme of evidence-based learning and networking opportunities and mentoring.

The West India Committee in London has received a £10,000 small grant to develop its website to enable digital giving, as well as to promote the organisation’s heritage. Staff will receive training from the Institute of Fundraising to learn skills in fundraising from individual donors, and the new website will be marketed to a wider range of potential members.

Jane Austen Memorial Trust has received a £10,000 small grant to enable it to research and establish a fundraising strategy. The process will involve developing its Friends Scheme, building membership from its contacts at the Jane Austen Society of North America and establishing a legacy programme.

Catalyst heritage: building fundraising capacity grants is part of the wider Catalyst programme, a £100million plus investment partnership between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Arts Council England (ACE) and HLF designed to enable arts and heritage organisations to develop and explore innovative new approaches to securing private giving.

Just one opportunity remains to apply for an HLF Catalyst small grant, with a closing date of 16 August 2013. Visit the Catalyst programme page for details.

Notes to editors

Catalyst

The £12.3million grant figure includes the Catalyst Umbrella grants, which are subject to a two stage assessment and award process. At this stage Catalyst Umbrella grants have only been awarded ‘initial support’ (see below for further explanation) with development funding totalling £419,500. The £12.3million figure includes the full Umbrella grant should it be awarded which totals £3.4million.

Catalyst Umbrella grants are assessed and awarded in a two-step process. Initial support plus development funding means the project meets our criteria for funding and we believe it has potential to deliver high-quality benefits and value for Lottery money. The application was in competition with other supportable projects, so this is an endorsement of outline proposals. The project will submit fully developed proposals to secure a firm award at a later date. This does not apply to Catalyst Endowment and small grants, which are have been assessed and awarded in one step.

As part of that earlier announcement, the former Culture Minister unveiled details of the overarching £100million Catalyst fund to be invested through:

Catalyst: Endowments: a £55million scheme jointly funded by Department for Culture Media and Sport, Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund

Catalyst Arts: a £30million Arts Council capacity building and match funding scheme

Catalyst Arts and Catalyst Heritage fundraising capacity building programme: a £7million Arts Council fundraising capacity building small grant scheme; and a £5million HLF investment in capacity building, including a small grant scheme

The Arts Council has also invested £3million in a programme of learning and knowledge sharing